Michigan Congressman Offers Compromise
Michigan Representative Bart Stupak (D) has proposed an interesting compromise. This is at least a step towards not telling a few million (both Florida and Michigan) people their vote doesn’t count.
WASHINGTON - A Michigan congressman proposed an alternate plan Monday for seating the state’s delegates at the Democratic National Convention, awarding delegates based partly on Michigan’s Jan. 15 primary results and partly on the popular vote in all the nation’s presidential primaries.
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., in a letter to DNC Chairman Howard Dean, proposed that Michigan’s 83 pledged delegates be chosen at congressional district conventions according to the results of the state’s primary.
The party stripped both Michigan and Florida of their national convention delegates because they moved their primaries to January dates that were earlier than party rules allowed.
Under Stupak’s formula, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who received 55 percent of the primary vote, would receive 47 delegates.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who pulled his name from Michigan’s ballot, would receive 36 delegates. Many Obama supporters in Michigan voted for “uncommitted,” which received 40 percent in the primary.
The remaining 73 delegates would be awarded based on the percentage of the popular vote garnered nationwide by Clinton and Obama after the last Democratic presidential primary is completed.
“The last thing we want to do as Democrats is to disenfranchise voters,” Stupak wrote in the letter to Dean. “I have heard from countless Democratic and independent voters who are frustrated and angry to think that their votes are being ignored.”
Source: MSNBC
Sphere: Related ContentClinton Wants Votes to Count in Michigan and Florida
During a press conference that took place on Wednesday, the 5th Anniversary of the Iraq war, Sen. Hillary Clinton challenged the democratic party and Sen. Barack Obama to count the votes in Michigan and Florida or have redo primaries in those two states. Clinton stated that it doesn’t matter who won the primaries or the redo primaries, what is important that every vote counts, and that for them not to is Un-American. On this Sen. Clinton is completely right, she pointed out that more people in Michigan and Florida voted in there no count primary than voted in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. Around 2.5 million people voted in the Florida and Michigan Primaries, that is a lot of votes for them not to count.
Michigan and Florida held primaries in January, but the national party stripped them of their delegates for scheduling their contests too early.
Michigan had 156 Democratic delegates at stake and Florida had 211.
Florida has nixed the idea of a revote, but a proposal for a June 3 election in Michigan is under consideration.
Looking ahead to the general election, Clinton said ignoring the votes in Michigan and Florida would be a “grave mistake.”
“The road to a Democratic White House goes through Michigan and Florida, and if Democrats send the message that we don’t care about your votes, I’m sure John McCain and the Republicans would be happy to have them,” she said.
Clinton, who was the only main contender on the ballot in Michigan, won with 55 percent of the vote. Some 40 percent of Democrats in the state filed ballots declaring themselves “uncommitted.”
After the Democratic National Committee’s decision, Obama was among the Democratic presidential contenders who had their names taken off Michigan’s ballot.
“When others made the decision to remove their names from the ballot, I didn’t, because I believed your voices and your votes should count,” Clinton said.
Michigan’s Democratic leaders want their delegates seated, but the party has been unable to reach a consensus on how to handle them.
Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor on Tuesday said, “The Clinton campaign favors whatever they think will benefit them.”
Shortly before Clinton’s speech, the Obama camp released a letter outlining concerns it had with a potential revote in Michigan.
“There are such questions and they are serious both in nature and in their potential, if not likely, impact on the June election proposal,” Obama counsel Robert F. Bauer said in the letter.
Source: CNN
Photo Source: MSNBC
Sphere: Related ContentDNC Responds To Michigan Primary
According to MSNBC First Read, The DNC says that a primary in Michigan is completely viable.
Sphere: Related ContentDNC Rules and Bylaws Committee co-chairs Alexis Herman and James Roosevelt issued the following memo to members of the committee:
“We have recently been asked whether the legislation as proposed by Michigan would fit within the framework of the National Party’s Delegate Selection Rules. Our review of this legislation indicates that it would, in fact, fit within the framework of the Rules if, it were, passed by the state legislature and used by the Michigan State Democratic Party as the basis of drafting a formal Delegate Selection Plan. If a formal Delegate Selection Plan is received we will convene a meeting of the RBC to consider such a Plan.”
Michigan Primary Redo Hopes Dwindle
According to MSNBC First Read the possibility for a redo of the Michigan are very small and look to only get smaller.
Sphere: Related ContentSenate Democrats emerged from a closed-door caucus this morning and proclaimed that a fledging idea floated by top Michigan Democrats to create a special June 3 primary election is all but dead.
“The votes aren’t there to do it,” said Sen. Buzz THOMAS (D-Detroit), the co-chair of the Barack OBAMA campaign in Michigan
Sen. Gretchen WHITMER, a supporter of Hillary CLINTON, also conceded the chances of a June 3 redo of the Democratic presidential primary were slim. She stopped short of declaring it dead, saying instead that it was “on life support” and in need of CPR.
The Legislature would need to approve a bill by a two-third vote to put in place a June 3 special primary that would replace the results of the Jan. 15 presidential primary, which the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is not recognizing because the early date violated national party rules.
Support for the primary is weak for numerous reasons, the biggest reason being Obama’s reluctance to sign off. Republicans, local clerks and state officials, however, also have raised concerns about rushing to create a special primary for logistical and legal reasons.
Without the redo, Michigan Democrats and independents risk not having a substantive voice in the Clinton-Obama horserace before a DNC deadline for states to report their delegate count expires on June 10.
Michigan Close To Redo Primary
Michigan has reached an agreement with Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, to have a real primary on June, 3, 2008. The money to pay for the Primary, estimated at $12 Million, will come from an outside firm not tax payers dollars. Supposedly, it is up in the air that Clinton donors might pay for all of the primary costs, how is that fair?
While the idea of Florica re-vote seems to be fading, there is a lot of momentum among Michigan Democrats for a June 3 re-vote, according to informed sources in the state. There are a couple of hurdles, including who would pay for the primary (100% Clinton donors or 50-50 split between Clinton and Obama donors; the preference of state Democrats). The state would pass a law that would appropriate the money to run this special primary election; not a mail-in, but a full bore in-person 100% open primary. The state, in turn, would be reimbursed by the Democratic Party or potentially other entities or even seeing if it’s possible for donors to contribute to the state directly. Everyone seems to be on board in the state Democratic world of Michigan, including the governor, the Dingells, Carl Levin, the Kilpatricks and the U.A.W. For those that follow Michigan Democratic politics closely, you’ll know getting all those folks in agreement isn’t easy.
Also, there appears to be very little GOP resistance in the state legis. (or even the McCain campaign) from allowing this to happen. So, barring some major objection by the Obama folks (who are being briefed on this plan later today), the possibility of a Michigan re-vote on June 3 is very high. The only thing that could stop this primary logistically is if the state party is told, legally, they can’t raise the large soft money contributions they would need to raise in order to come up with the $10-12 million.
All of this needs to be agreed to (including by the state legislature) in the next 10-14 days.
Ok, Florida, is the ball now in your court?
Source: MSNBC
Sphere: Related ContentHoward Dean Suggests Mail In Option
Howard Dean has suggested that Florida and Michigan “redo” their primaries through a mail in vote. This sounds like a another terrible idea from the DNC and leaves plenty of room for problems. Dean says the problem is who is going to pay for it?
This might be Dean’s answer, the Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine, and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell have offered to help raise money for the possible “redo’s” of both states. Both Corzine and Rendell are Clinton supporters.
WASHINGTON - A consensus began to emerge Sunday that the best way to give Florida’s Democrats a voice in electing a candidate for president lies with the U.S. Postal Service.
But the disqualification of Florida and Michigan has created a headache for the Democratic party due to the unexpected closeness of the race between Obama and Clinton. Officials from both states are trying to figure out how best to resolve the issue before the national convention in August.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean said a mail-in primary is “actually a very good process.”
“Every voter gets a ballot in the mail,” the former Vermont governor said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “It’s comprehensive, you get to vote if you’re in Iraq or in a nursing home. It’s not a bad way to do this.”
As for who pays, Dean said, “That is a problem,” reiterating that the party needs its money for the general election campaign against Republican John McCain.
He also ruled out the state of Florida, where Republican Gov. Charlie Crist has nixed the idea. Dean suggested the state Democratic party might foot the bill. Florida’s political parties, unlike the DNC, can accept unlimited contributions.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., supports the mail-in solution, comparing it to an absentee ballot process. He also pinned his hopes on the state party to pay for it.
“Since Governor Dean has said he’s not going to do it in the DNC, the Florida Democratic Party’s going to have to go out and raise the money,” he said. “We’re looking at about $6 million.”
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., appeared to be amenable to a mail-in solution for his state, though with less enthusiasm.
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Levin said doing the election again would be against state law. “That can’t be changed, and that can’t be paid for,” he said. Levin also said caucuses would be difficult, with 500 potential sites.
Source: MSNBC
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The Florida And Michigan Democratic Conundrum
It appears that they may have democratic primaries in Florida and Michigan. Wait, they already have but they didn’t count. So that would mean that Democratic National Committee (DNC) are weighing options and considering having primaries in those two states again. There are several problems with this idea. First though, lets see how this came about.
For those of you who don’t know, Michigan and Florida were penalized because they had their primaries before February 5th by both parties. South Carolina, Michigan, Florida, New Hampshire, and Wyoming were penalized by the Republican National Committee (RNC) by having half of their delegates taken away for each state. The DNC decided to allow to count Nevada and South Carolina for their “diversity” and not count Florida and Michigan because of their who knows what. This was a terrible idea by the DNC, absolutely ridiculous. The RNC didn’t come through with a great idea either, but it was better than the DNC’s decision. The reason for the penalties is that the early voting takes prestige away from the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. Talk about thinking in the past.
Florida and Michigan are together have around 300 delegates, which could make a difference in the race, or at least get both candidates closer to the “magic” number of 2025 delegates. It seems both Clinton and Obama are going to fall short of the “magic” number, if voting trends stay the same.
The case for having another primary is stronger in Michigan, seeing as Barack Obama’s name wasn’t on the ballot. Though, people did have other candidates to chose from (Kucinich, Gravel) granted they weren’t front-running candidates, but to say that Clinton was the only name on the ballot, isn’t true. Also, it is Obama’s fault that his name wasn’t on the ballot in Michigan, so why not seat the delegates and it is his loss.
There is almost no case for having another vote in Florida, seeing as Obama’s name was on the ballot, even though neither candidate really campaigned there.
Yes, it may have been against the rules for them to hold their primary early in Michigan and Florida, but it happened, now deal with it fairly.
If the DNC was like hey guess what, even though we have had a record turn out in the Primaries in both states, your vote doesn’t count, we are going to have another contest either a Primary or Caucus, so go vote again, and if we like the results, we will count it. If I were a democratic voter in Florida, or Michigan , I would make sure my vote would never count again in a democratic primary or for the Democratic Party for that matter, and vote for another parties candidate to make it count. Of course, that is just me and I don’t speak for voters everywhere.
How are the voters, that went and voted for anyone in these primaries going to react to this? Also, how much is this going to cost and who is going to pay for it? Howard Dean, chairman of the DNC states that the DNC isn’t going to pay for it, the Governor of Florida, says that Florida will not pay for it. Michigan is still on the fence.
What this comes down to is that the DNC did not expect this to still be a race and are unprepared to deal with it. They thought that they could penalize these States and that it wouldn’t matter in the big picture. That all would be said and done by this point and at the convention in Denver they could seat the Michigan and Florida delegates and no harm no foul. Now they have to deal with this somehow, and there is no way to fairly redo the primary.
If they do have a “redo” of Florida and Michigan, and they actually can get people to vote, if Clinton doesn’t win both , her campaign will they that it isn’t fair to her seeing as she already has won the states according to the first vote. If they don’t have a “redo” at least in Michigan, Obama can cry foul because his name wasn’t on the ballot (even though that was his choice). However this ends, either Clinton or Obama are going to feel jilted, because there is no correct way to do this, and the DNC didn’t deal with it correctly to begin with, so the process will be wrong in the end.
Sphere: Related ContentDNC Urges Michigan & Florida To Hold Caucuses
Let the battle over Michigan and Florida begin. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is recommending Florida and Michigan to hold caucuses now to get their delegates back that were lost. This seems rather backhanded, considering both states did have a Democratic Primary that Hillary Clinton won pretty handily, even though she ran against uncommitted in Michigan. Clinton will have a case to argue over with the DNC if these caucused take place and even more of one, if she loses those caucuses to Obama this race being so close.
Howard Dean (Chairman of DNC) is trying to keep the Superdelegates out of the spotlight, because that is a potentially huge scandal waiting to happen and the less publicized the Superdelegates are the better for the Democratic Party. Howard Dean has stated that if the Presidential race makes it to the Democratic convention without a winner that he might ask one of the candidates to step down. There is to much going on behind the scenes in the Democratic Party.
LANSING, Mich. — The Democratic National Committee is pressuring Michigan and Florida to hold Democratic presidential caucuses so the delegates they’ve lost for holding January primaries could be seated at the national convention, a top Michigan Democrat said Wednesday.
DNC member Debbie Dingell said it’s unclear whether either state would hold caucuses since they’ve already held primaries. But she said the DNC is asking the two states to consider such a plan.
But Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer said the DNC isn’t saying anything it hasn’t said before to Michigan and Florida.
”Everybody involved, the candidates, the DNC and we, need to remain open-minded. So if someone comes up with a creative way that meets everyone’s interests, we can do that” and get the delegates seated, he said.
Florida Democratic Party spokesman Mark Bubriski agreed with Brewer that the DNC’s position isn’t new. But he said the party has no intention of holding another election.
”We’ve said all along that we’re going forward with our delegate selection program using the vote on Jan. 29,” he said. ”We’ve got more delegate applications than ever.”
The decision could end up being made at the August Democratic National Convention in Denver, which makes the question over whether the Michigan and Florida delegates are seated an important strategic point.
It’s unlikely that Clinton would favor holding caucuses, which could open the door to Obama victories in two states she already has won. But there’s also pressure to hold some kind of alternative election that meets DNC rules so the states don’t have to wait to find out if the delegates are to be seated.
Source: Fox News
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Hillary Upset Over Not Getting Delegates From Michigan And Possibly Florida
Hillary Clinton’s latest strategy/saga is that she is trying to get the delegates that would have been at stake in Michigan and Florida reinstated. Hillary Clinton is leading Barack Obama currently by almost 100 delegates when you add in the super-delegates. Clinton would have garnered most of the delegates in Michigan and she has a lead in Florida. Both of those states have over a hundred delegates each.
Clinton’s claim has some credence, while the Republicans penalized all states having primaries (not caucuses) before Feb. 5th, Democrats stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates and told their candidates not to campaign in those states. The National Democratic Party voted on this twice and passed it. It is understandable for her to want to reinstate these delegates for more than the obvious reasons. Many residents of these states probably feel as their votes don’t count, because right now they don’t, that gives them plenty of reason to be furious at the democratic party. So far the national party isn’t budging, though they would if democrats in Michigan and Florida said they wouldn’t vote for the democrats in the Presidential Election in November.
Photo Source: flapsblog.com
Sphere: Related ContentNBC Nevada Democratic Debate Did Not Include Dennis Kucinich
The NBC debate had only three candidates in it John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. NBC did not allow Dennis Kucinich to participate. Hillary Clinton took command of the debate and made herself look like someone that people could see as the President. Hillary argued her points on Iraq and got Obama and Edwards to seemingly agree that her plan was how to go about Iraq from here on out. Clinton basically out-smarted her competition, and got them to agree with her, or that they have the same view points. Clinton is going to be considered the winner of this debate. This will possibly give Clinton an advantage on Obama in the Democratic Nevada Caucus. John Edwards needed a better performance in this debate to have a shot to win in Nevada or anywhere else. It is a shame that Dennis Kucinich wasn’t allowed in the debate, he would have surely shaken things up a bit. That made two wins for Hillary today, as she also won the Democratic Michigan Primary, which will not garner her any delegates, but may give her some good publicity.
Photo Source: Zenpundit
Sphere: Related ContentMichigan Early Primary Results: Romney Edges McCain
Early Poll Results are in and it appears that Mitt Romney has won the Primary, edging out John McCain
With 5% of Polls in the Rankings are as follows
1. Mitt Romney- 36%
2. John McCain- 31%
3. Mike Huckbee- 17%
4. Ron Paul- 6%
5. Fred Thompson- 4%
6. Rudy Giuliani- 3%
7. Duncan Hunter - 0%
8. Uncommitted- 3%
If these results stand this means the first repeat winner is Romney and the nails weren’t as deep in the coffin as many thought for him. Romney, also winning the almost not talked about Wyoming Caucus.
Sphere: Related ContentMichigan Presidential Primaries Hours Away, What To Expect
On the Democratic Side there really isn’t that much to talk about seeing as how Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) is running against Uncommitted. Uncommitted is suppose to be what Michiganders vote for if Barack Obama , John Edwards, or Dennis Kucinich is their preferred candidate. According to Real Clear Politics, Clinton is besting Uncommitted 54.3% -29.8%. Not a big surprise since most all the other democrats have turned their noses to Michigan.
On the Republican Side, this should be interesting. John McCain and Mitt Romney have been going around saying that they care about Michigan more than the other guy. Romney might right now care more, because regardless of what is said about him staying in till the end, if he doesn’t win right now and McCain or Mike Huckabee get the Primary win, that will take what little wind is left out of Romney sails. A withdrawal may not be far behind for Romney at a second or third place finish. Then, you have Fred Thompson who is gaining in popularity after his smart-alec performance in the South Carolina debate. Rudy Giuliani has stated that he is betting all his chips on the Florida Primary, and that will inevitably show tomorrow night. Finally there is Ron Paul who has a lot of grass roots and internet support. Real Clear Politics ranks these candidates as follows.:
1. Romney 27.0%
2. McCain 26.3%
3. Huckabee 15.9%
4. Paul 6.6%
5. Giuliani 5.7%
6. Thompson 5.6%
What is going to happen tomorrow, no one knows for sure. Potential is said to be swinging in favor of McCain. We will find that out and more tomorrow.
Source: Real Clear Politics
Photo Source: kare11
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